For years I’ve been in the presence of greatness, and never realised. There’s a field I sometimes walk through, and its far side is bordered by a line of trees. Planted about 30 years ago, the trees are house height. I never really noticed them, until yesterday. The sun suddenly came out and a shining silver caught the corner of my eye. It was the low, bright winter light fizzing against the trees. Their trunks and larger boughs shone like lit-magnesium, while their smaller branches flamed red. Scaling the intervening fence, I hurried over.